All My Demigods
by hendie
Summary: How far will Aphroditie go to make the perfect soap opera for Hephestas TV? Far enouph to mess up Percabeth in a romantical redo of the Trojan War. But out of the chaos, new freinds arrive and new relationships form. Can a son of Hades fall in love?
1. The Best Birthday

Chapter 1- The Best Birthday

Hi- Annabeth here! Yeah, I know Percy usually tells you these stories, but for this particular tale, we both thought it would be best coming from me.

I was standing on the top step to the Olympian throne room; the only building standing on Mount Olympus. The Cyclops builders were busy readying their building materials. There were huge piles of white marble, mounds of gold and other precious metals, and statues of all of the different gods. This was not only the day when the city I designed would be built; it was also my sixteenth birthday. The plan was that, when everyone got here, I would do the ribbon cutting thingy and the gods would use their magic powers to build the city. Then it would be a mountain wide party as everyone checked out the new city. I was so excited, mainly because of all the planning and work it took to get here, but also because you don't turn 16 every day.

"Annabeth?" It was my mother.

I turned around and saw the goddess Athena walking towards me. She was dressed in a simple white dress. A gray Barn Owl was perched on her shoulder. Her curly blonde hair was pulled back in a bun. Her large gray eyes were identical to mine and bore her usual calm expression.

"Annabeth, people will be arriving soon. You should go and change your clothes. Do not worry, everything is ready."

I was about to make a comment on how I was worried about the preparations; but my mother took the words right out of my mouth. Being the goddess of wisdom, she can do freaky things like that.

"Yes mother" I said respectfully as I turned around to go back inside.

"And, Annabeth"

I looked back "Yes?"

"Happy Birthday." And she went POOF! And disappeared.

I smiled slightly to myself.

I walked over to a room in which I was supposed to get ready. Everything was spread out just like I had left it a few hours ago. My gray silk dress was hanging behind the door. I was rather fond of this dress. Normally, I don't wear dresses at all. But this dress was special.

A few weeks ago, all of my friends had taken me shopping to find something special to wear. I had tried to say no. but had lost by their sheer wait in numbers. Thalia, Rachel, Tyson, Nico, Percy, (and most of the Aphrodite cabin who had insisted on helping) had pushed me in the car against my own will. Fighting didn't do me much good here, especially because 2 of them are invulnerable. Anyway, we were shopping and Percy had found this dress. He had called me over to look at it. I had fallen in love with it instantly.

I slipped the dress on. I stuffed my feet into some tiny, little silvery gray flats (courtesy of the Aphrodite kids, a party is never complete without painful shoes!) and tried to do something with my hair. I piled it up on top of my head and secured it with a silver clip.

I examined myself in the mirror. "Not bad" I said to myself, "not bad at all."

I wondered about so many things, how would the gods build the city? How would the party be afterward? Would anyone show up? I mean, I invited almost everyone I knew, someone would come. Percy had to, he had promised.

I then realized how stupid I was being and told the little doting voice in the back of my head to shut up!

I walked outside. Everything was so big, it took me a while to take it all in. My mother was up at the podium announcing something to a huge crowd of people, there must have been around 600! It looked like all of Olympus and Camp Half Blood had come to celebrate with me. I scanned the crowd and the saw faces I was most eager to see, except for one. Everyone was there; Rachel, Thalia, Tyson, Nico, and some more friendly faces from camp, but no Percy. My Seaweed Brain was nowhere to be found.

"And now, for the cutting of the ribbon. The duty of the head architect of this whole project, my own daughter, Annabeth Chase!" Athena said into the microphone as a cyclops handed me a giant pair of scissors. I cut a large red ribbon in front of me and POOF!

It all happened at once. Where there had been a huge pile of building supplies was a city, a beautiful city. All of my finest work had been collected in one beautiful mythological city far above the streets of New York. Everything was glowing. Everyone scattered to check out the cool new town.

I was happy, I really was. But there was something holding me back. I couldn't put my finger on it. I wasn't as happy as I thought I would have been. Yeah, it was amazing to see all of my hard work actually come to life. But, somehow , I found it hard to work up the enthusiasm.

There was something wrong. I didn't know what. I hated not knowing. I had to go some place alone and quiet in order to figure things out. And I knew just the place..

…

I was on the observation platform. I had added this little area to the plans a few minutes before the Cyclops builders had taken them away for construction prep. It was built on a small ledge on the far side of the mountain. I had been pondering what to do with this ledge. It was small and shifty and no one really went to the back side of the mountain. But one day, a few weeks ago I had climbed out here with Percy and he had pointed out what a beautiful view that the ledge had. I had woken up that morning and BOOM! It hit me; a beautiful, secretive, and serene marble observation platform; with a beautiful view of New York City. I could go on about structural supports and architectural details, but I don't want to bore you this early in the story.

So, anyway; I was leaning out, looking at the city below me yada, yada, yada. I allowed my thoughts to wonder.

Where was Percy? He said he would be here. I mean it's not unusual for him to be late. But usually he wasn't this late. Oh well, he'll be here. He has to be. What kind of boy friend is late to his girlfriend's most important night of her life?

I sighed.

I was so preoccupied in thought that I didn't hear someone walk up behind me.

2 warm arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind me. A familiar voice whispered "Happy Birthday" in my ear. "You're late seaweed brain" I said in reply. I turned around and saw him; his unruly black hair, his bright green eyes, and his gentle smile. He looked nice. He wore dark pants, a crisp, white shirt, a green tie, and a formal jacket.

"You clean up good." I said, "Maybe I'll forgive you for being late. It all depends on what you got me."

A bright smile passed over his face. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand" he told me.

I raised my eyebrows questioningly, but did what he told me, wondering what it could be. I heard a box click open. Something cold and metallic was secured around my wrist.

"Okay, open your eyes." Percy said with excitement.

I opened my eyes and looked down at a beautiful charm bracelet now gracing my wrist. It was made of silver links. Olive trees and flying owls were etched into the metal with amazing detail. On the largest link, engraved in tiny letters my dyslexic brain could barely dispatcher, it said "To Wise Girl, Love Seaweed Brain"

"It's beautiful Percy. I love it"

"I haven't even gotten to the best part." Percy said with a smile, "this is a magic charm bracelet. Every charm you put on it becomes enchanted. So you need a charm."

He took out a small box wrapped with a blue ribbon and handed it to me. I opened it. Inside was a beautiful little owl charm, with miniscule sapphires for the eyes. I was at loss for words. I put it on the bracelet.

"Now tap it." Said Percy.

I tapped the tiny charm. It grew larger and larger until I was looking at a shield with an owl molded into the front. It looked as if it were flying out of the shield towards me. It was so beautiful and perfect I was speechless.

"Thanks Percy" I said simply (it was all I could manage to get out).

I gave him a light kiss on the lips and a big hug.

"I love it Seaweed brain, and I love you too." I told him, Though I was a little worried what his reaction would be.

My worry melted away as he smiled and pulled me into another hug.

"I love you too." He said quietly in my ear.

We stood like that for a long time, or maybe no time at all. I don't know, I always get so confused during those sentimental feel good moments.

Fireworks exploded over the city. I breathed in deeply. It had to be one of the best nights of my life.

But if I had had any idea of what was to come, I would have stayed home.


	2. Morgan, Danny, Josie, and Erin

Chapter 2- Erin, Danny, Josie, and Morgan

We walked up to the party. The city sparkled as we walked past on the twisted path up the mountain. The throne room was as large and grand as ever. There was a scorch mark on the floor were Apollo had attempted to break dance earlier. It was packed with people (well, they weren't actually people if you know what I mean)

Percy and I walked over to Nico (who had been leaning in the corner being depressed).

"Hey guys." He said. He winced as he said this. I noticed a thin cut from the edge of his mouth, down his neck, all the way down to his hand.

"Ugh, Nico, How did you get that?" I asked

"From that new camper, Josie Anderson. I was in the forest, and it was dark. Lets just say I thought she was a monster and she turned around and scratched me."

"Oh, I heard about that. But, wait, didn't you like stab her in the foot or something?" Percy said

"Like I said, I thought she was a monster. She can transform into different animals. Anyway, she's fine. I missed her foot, but she got freaked out and turned around and gave me this." He pointed at his long scratches.

I wondered whose daughter she was in order to do that. I'd never heard of a demigod having that ability. While I thought about it, Percy and Nico were talking about boy stuff; video games, sports, and I don't really know what much else boys talk about.

The rousing conversation ended only when some girls pulled Nico onto the dance floor to see if they could make him dance. I backed up a little only to find myself tripping over someone and toppling to the cold, marble floor.

Percy helped me up. The girl I tripped over stood up and brushed herself off. She was dark skinned and fairly short. Her black hair was styled in a pixie cut. Her large eyes were an unusual shade of violet. She looked only about 13 years old, but her expression seemed much older. She wore a knee length silk dress that matched her eyes exactly. The strangest thing of her appearance, though, was a large purple stone that hung around her neck on a gold chain. The stone pulsed unusually with power.

"Oh, sorry." said the girl and I at the same time.

"It's okay" the girl said, "Cool party"

"Um, I don't want to be rude or anything, but who are you?" I implied of the girl.

"Morgan L. Terease, daughter of Hecate, at your service. I'm here with my friend Josie. Who is supposed to be up there somewhere." She gestured to the high ceiling.

Just then the Aphrodite pack pushed by, leaving the reeking smells of designer perfume behind them. At the head of the group was Danielle Robinson (aka, Danny), the head of the cabin since Silena, well, you know. Anyway Danielle was like the rich cheerleader of the whole camp. She had everything from the looks to the snobbieness. She had turned the entire cabin from some chatty, makeup-loving, gossipers into a mean pack of drama-loving freaks.

"Oh my gosh, that's perfect! Caw, Caw!" Morgan yelled; when she saw our confused faces, she explained, "We're trying to scare Danny and her copy cat crew. That was the signal. "Caw Caw!" she cried again.

This time a voice responded from somewhere above us, "You're supposed to say it like a native New York pigeon!"

" Well excuse me, I'm not half bird!" Morgan replied to the parrot-like voice, (which I supposed was Josie in bird form.)

"You know I'm not half bird, I-"

But, she was cut short by Morgan saying, " Just get over there bird brain, we'll talked about your wacked out genealogy later!"

A brown blur flew down from the ceiling and landed amongst the targets; right next to Danny. The next thing I heard was,

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, SNAKE! Get it off of me!"

Sure enough, there was a bright, blue, snake sitting on top of her bleached-blonde ringlets. Then, one of Danielle's many admirers, Sawyer, a son of Iris; got up the nerve to grab the snake out of her hair and throw it out of the throne room.

This left the girls screaming and running for the bathroom and the boys ashamed that they hadn't been brave enough to face a stupid snake.

"Ugh, why is it that every time she turns into a snake, she brakes a rib, I gotta go make sure she's okay. It was nice meeting you two."

"Nice meeting you too" I said. Then I elbowed Percy, who had been staring into space, deep in thought (which you know, if you've read his books, doesn't happen very often.)

"What? Oh yeah, nice."

Morgan walked away when my favorite song came on- Fireflies by Owl City. I mean, not only is the song awesome; but the name of the band is just downright cool.

Percy knew it was my favorite song, so he said "Would you like to dance?" he held out his hand and I took it.

The only bad thing about that song is that you can't really dance to it. Percy can't really dance anyway; so I tried to start up a conversation to make things a little less awkward. "So, what was on your mind earlier and why were you late?"

"Well, I was kind of thinking about why I was late, it's sort of confusing." I knew by the look on his face that he was serious, something strange and important had happened to him. "Well, maybe I can straighten it out for you." I said

"Okay, well, I was just about to leave my apartment when my mom and Paul came in. Paul was all excited and said that mom was going to have a baby. It's due this September by the way. So, I was really happy for her, but she looked strange. She looked happy, sad, frightened, confused, shocked, and stressed out all at the same time. I asked her what was wrong and all she said was 'go, tell Chiron.' I knew she was very serious; that it was something he HAD to know.

"So I was fishing around for a drachma and she said 'no, in person.' She was pleading with me now. I figured if I took a Pegasus, I would be here in plenty of time. So I called Blackjack, and he flew me to camp.

When I got there; Chiron wasn't there; but I told Rachel about it and she could tell that there would be something different with my mom's baby. And that settled that, there's no use arguing with an oracle.

I was just about to leave when the whole Aphrodite cabin tackled me, changed all my clothes, put stuff in my hair and then they took all the Pegasus and camp vans. So I thought everyone was at your party and there was no way back to the city. Then I remembered the Hippocampus. I was at the beach when I ran into Erin."

Erin was the head of all the demigod children of Eris, the goddess of discord. Not the friendliest bunch, I can tell you that.

Percy continued with his story. "And she was like, 'I wasn't invited to your girlfriend's party.' And I said that everyone was invited and then she said 'I wasn't invited.' Really firm. I was like ooooookaaay. Then she said, 'Take this to the party with you.' And she gave me this."

He then pulled something out of his jacket and held it out for me. It was a golden apple. Carved in the solid gold, were the words _**To the Bravest**_.

"Wait!" I said," doesn't this sound familiar? Eris, the apple, big party, to the bravest?"

That was when the apple fell out of Percy's hand; or should have fallen. It hovered about 4 feet off the ground and began mysteriously gliding to the center of the room.


	3. To the Bravest

-_**Yeah, I'm writing an author's note. This is where we get into the traditional, Greek mythology part. Don't worry, there's a few twists. This chapter's got everything from godly bickering to bad poetry. But, before you start reading I would like to say thanks for the **__**5**__** reviews I have gotten so far. Really people, it only takes about 2 minutes out of your day, is it really that hard? Enjoy!**_

Chapter 3- To the Bravest

I watched in horror as the apple ran straight into the back of the god Apollo. Now Apollo, the god of music, archery, prophecy, and medicine; was a pretty cool guy. So he didn't vaporize us or anything. He just turned around saw the apple hovering there. He read the inscription.

"To the Bravest? Aww, how sweet, someone thinks I'm brave.(gasps) I sense a Haiku coming on." He raised his hands as everyone around him groaned (which gives you a hint on the quality of his poetry). Apollo then started his poem (complete with dramatic arm movements!)

"Cool Golden Apple

To the Bravest it belongs

I guess it is mine"

He lowered his arms when his poem was finished and took a dramatic bow. When he heard no one clapping he lifted his head. Everyone around started to pretend to clap enthusiastically. Apollo took another bow. He then snatched the apple out of the air (as it was still hovering in front of him) and stowed it away inside is golden robes.

Percy and I were still watching as Apollo walked over to his twin sister Artemis.

For those who don't know; Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and the patron of young maidens. She usually takes the form of a twelve-year-old girl.

She was talking to some minor godlings about archery. Apollo tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and gave him the same exasperated, stern, and annoyed look she always gave her older twin.

"What do you want?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, nothin' lil' sis"

"How many times do I have to tell you that we're twins? We've been alive for thousands of years, yet you continue to make such a big deal about those 5 minutes!" she was definitely annoyed now.

"Gosh sis, lighten up. I actually do have something to show you." He took out the golden apple.

Artemis raised her eyebrows "Oh my gosh" she said sarcastically, "You found fruit."

"Not just any fruit, read it."

"To the bravest" Oh yeah, because you are sooooooo much braver than me. Or anyone else."

"Oh, you're on. Archery competition, tomorrow morning!"

And that was when Ares decided to show up. Suddenly I felt angry. I wanted to throw something. I knew that it was just the war god's presence.

Ares walked over to the twins. He didn't notice us watching. Good thing, because Percy wasn't exactly on his good side.

"What are you squabbling about?" He asked casually. He lived for squabbles.

"Put a sock in it Ares." said Artemis. I guess Ares' presence didn't just affect demigods.

Ares' face turned a shade redder. "Watch your mouth Arty."

Apollo and Artemis glared at him.

"What do you want Ares?" Apollo asked.

"To see what you two are squabbling about." He snatched the apple. "Is it this thing? Oh, come on we all know I'm braver than any of you."

And so the godly bickering began. Eventually, they started yelling in ancient Greek. Some of the words were so bad there's not even an English translation. Artemis was smart though. She mainly tried to stay out of it. But one of them always yanked her back into the argument. She would start yelling things about stupid boys.

"Wow. I've never seen them like this. Well, except Ares." Percy said exactly what I was thinking. Apollo was usually so laid back and cool. And Artemis was usually way more level-headed.

Everyone was watching. Zeus walked up. "Why does this happen every time?" He asked in a commanding voice. "If I appoint a judge to say who this apple belongs to will you all stop fighting?"

"Yes!" They all said at the same time.

"Does this seem familiar to you?" Percy asked.

"Yes, seaweed brain. We are watching an almost exact reenactment of the beginning of the Trojan War!" I thought even he would know that.

"You there." Zeus said as he pointed to someone standing next to me.

"Who, me?" I knew that voice, but I looked over anyway. He was pointing at Danny.

"Yes, you child. Who do you think is the 'Bravest'?"

All of the other Olympians appeared. Most of them looked on disapprovingly.

Danny looked expectantly at her mother. Aphrodite looked perfect, as usual. She looked at her daughter, then glanced at Ares, then looked back at Danielle and gave her one nod.

"I believe Lord Ares to be the bravest."

Dramatic background music played and the meeting dispersed. Everyone went back to partying.

I had a very bad feeling about this.

_**End of Chapter 3! Woo hoo! **_ _**Yeah, short chapter, but necessary. The next one will be way better. I'll try to update soon. **_

_**Please review! **_


	4. Tough Girls Don't Cry

_**OMG! Have you seen the new TLT trailer? It is so awesome! It only went up on 11-18. It's the international trailer- if it doesn't start with Percy under water you have the wrong one. It's so awesome- I've seen it 22 times! Okay, back to the story. This chapter will shock you, surprise you, it might even terrify you! Now that the dramatic intro is over; say hello to chapter 4! (Just in case you're wondering, this story is taking place in early May, some people are arriving at camp for the summer) The story will make much more sense if you have a brief knowledge of the Trojan War. I have a reason for, WAIT! I'm getting ahead of myself. Just read. **_

Chapter 4- Tough Girls Don't Cry

I was in a forest. An unfamiliar one. I was running. There was something behind me. Something big, and apparently hungry.

There were people running with me. 5 pairs of feet (besides mine) were pounding on the forest floor as fast as they could. I took the chance of glancing over, Rachel was running next to me, she looked scared. Seeing usually level-headed Rachel looking like that freaked me out too.

There was a scream behind me, then a roar, then a growl. Then someone was screaming my name. "Annabeth, Annabeth!"

I sat up so fast I hit my head on the ceiling.

"Wow, Annabeth, watch it, it was just a bad dream." I groggily opened my eyes. My half brother, Malcolm, was standing over me. "its 8:30- you slept through breakfast. If you don't show up for archery, Chiron will get worried."

"Fine." I groaned, "I'm coming"

Malcolm left. I jumped down from my bunk. There was a faint humming from across the room. I had left Daedalus' laptop on again. I opened it. The last thing I had been looking at was his archives of magical items. Some of them I had heard of, even seen before, but most were unfamiliar to me.

I scrolled down the page.

-**The shoes of victory** (Nike's Rebooks!)- Shoes that will make the wearer victorious in their endeavors.

-**Hermes' toothbrush**- Part of the ultimate travel kit.

-**The Scarf of Aphrodite**- A scarf that will make people of the opposite gender fall in love with the wearer (only works while they are wearing the scarf)- Currently located at Camp Half-Blood.

I remembered that scarf- Percy and I had found it on that 1st quest we went on. We had to get Ares' shield and the scarf had been right next to it. When Percy picked it up- I overreacted and snatched it away from him- I had known what it could do- and apparently he hadn't.

I glanced at my watch. 8:40- I had only 5 minutes before archery. I shut down the computer and threw on some clothes- My orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, jeans, and some gray converse. I strapped my knife to my arm. I then "made" my bunk and ran outside.

The camp had transformed since last summer. We had gone from 12 cabins to 24, and more were in planning stages. There was double the amount of campers too- almost 200. Because of the increase, there were a bunch of campers here- and camp hadn't even officially started yet.

I ran past the big house. It was as large and grand as ever. It was tall, and light blue- though I overheard Connor and Travis coming up with a new "color scheme" the other day. The bronze eagle weather vane on the roof showed that the wind was blowing from the south. I heard a creaking noise and looked down at the porch. Someone was coming out the door.

I knew who it was before I even saw her. Who else would wear high-heels to summer camp? The _Click-Clack_ of her shoes on the porch revealed it to be Danny. She creped out the door. She looked all around as if to see if someone was watching. When she was sure that no one could see her- she stuck something pink and fluffy into her bag and ran off in the direction of the stables.

Uh- Oh this can't be good. My watch beeped. 8:45- I ran off to archery.

A few hours later I had to run back to my cabin to get the plans for a new chariot design. I was about to go back to my cabin mates - but I saw something on my bunk- something that hadn't been there this morning. It was a note.

**Once you get some free time- meet me at the beach- usual spot.**

**-Percy**

I smiled to myself as I stuffed the note in my pocket and ran out the door.

The "usual spot" was an exceptionally beautiful spot on the beach. The craggy rocks sheltered a small hollow looking out to the shore. Perfect for talking, or sitting, or what ever.

I climbed over the last set of rocks to see Percy waiting for me. He wasn't alone, though.

Danny was with him.

I mean with him, with him. They were kissing so fiercely it was hard to tell whose mouth was whose.

Now- whenever I think about it- I feel angry and betrayed. Then, I just felt empty. My mind went blank except for one thought- Don't cry- Tough girls don't cry.

I backed up quickly, stumbling away- I was going to cry- I just didn't want them to see it. Don't look back, I told myself; but of course I did it anyway. What I saw defiantly didn't make me feel any better.

They had stopped making out at least. Now Danny was flashing me her signature mean girl smile. She was wearing the same clothes as earlier- ones that were way too nice for camp, but now, she wore a pink scarf. But that wasn't what I was looking at.

Percy looked strange. His expression blank and distant; his eyes had changed from their regular shade of beautiful bright green and they were now dark and dull and lifeless. When he looked at me it was as if I wasn't there; his eyes remained distant and I ran away from the horrible, heart-breaking seen.

I stumbled around, not knowing where I was going, and not really caring. In the rockier times of my relationship, I blocked out all of my emotions until I was ready to release them. I practiced this now, preferring the numbing emptiness to the unbearable heart-brake.

I was woken up from my oblivious state when I heard a growl from above me. I was in the woods and I was too distraught to fight whatever that thing was. So I ran.

The running felt good. To stretch my legs, to open up, to feel powerful. Even when I heard no monster in my pursuit, I kept running. I flung my arms out behind me and lifted my head up. Pine needles brushed me on both sides until I was jerked back. I was caught on something.

It was the charm bracelet. I had completely forgotten that I had had it on. Lies, it had all been lies last night. This is what I get for "opening up" to him. I really didn't want to think about it. I tore the bracelet off and threw it in the dirt. A little rash, I know, but I was angry. I went back to my oblivious sorrow.

A few minutes later another growl cut through the silent air. I looked up into the branches of a tree looming above me. Two blue eyes stared back. I was frozen. Why did I have to stumble into the forest of all places?

Then, I got a hold on myself. I grabbed my knife and held it defensively in front of me. The mysterious creature jumped down from its perch and stared at me. It didn't look like a monster. It looked just like a leopard. Spotted fur and strong, lithe, muscles. It's eyes ruined the image. They were large and blue and not fitting for the animal at all, they held a spark of intelligence.

"What's wrong?" said a voice. It was strong, I could tell it was a girl's voice, though it didn't sound particularly feminine. It sounded like animal cries in the background. The voice came from the leopard, whoever it was. I had a hunch.

"Josie?" I asked . The leopard smiled- Or at least I think she did.

"Yes" it said.

Then, Josie hunched over and gradually transformed. It was hard to look at. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly there was a girl standing in front of me.

She looked about 13 and was pretty tall. She had frizzy brownish-blonde hair that was escaping from the loose bun that was attempting to restrain it. She was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a white blouse. There was a splash of freckles across her nose. The only thing about her appearance that hadn't changed was the eyes. They were still deep blue, and full of concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked again.

I told her. There wasn't much to tell. But it felt good to get it off my chest. As I told her what happened, I didn't even believe what I was saying, it felt like some tacky love story I was summarizing for her. When I finished, the numbness in my brain returned.

"I think I know someone who can help." Josie said, but I barely heard her_. _

She led me through the forest. Back onto the beach and up a hill. We were halfway up the stairs before I realized where we were going.

We came to the mouth of the cave. There was a purple curtain over the entrance. Josie pulled a rope and a bell rang inside of the cave.

"Hey Rachel!" she yelled, "Get your lazy butt out here, your best friend is having boy troubles!"

The curtain opened and Rachel came out. When she saw my face, she knew something was wrong.

"Come on in"

Rachel's room had been remodeled from the old Oracle's quarters, but they hadn't been used for 50 years. So I was enlisted to be not only the camp's head architect, but also the head interior designer.

The cave was large and light, and it was totally decked out. There was a big screen TV and plenty of places for people to sit. Rooms were divided by screens.

I sank down into a couch and stared at the wall. Rachel sat across from me and Josie stood silently in the corner. "Okay, so what happened?" Rachel asked me.

It wasn't as hard the second time. The words gushed out. Rachel's expression got angrier as she listened. I had a feeling that she already knew what had happened- she being the oracle and all, but I think she hadn't believed it until she heard me miserably telling the story as if my life depended on it, as if I was afraid of someone stopping me.

"It's okay" she said, her voice filled with pity. "I'm going to go talk some sense into the boy."

"Rachel, don't do that; I can deal with it." I tried to tell her, but she had blown her top. She stormed out of the cave, being mad at him for me.

Josie looked shocked, I guess she had never seen Rachel like that either. A few minutes later, we heard Rachel yelling, too far to make out what she was saying. Josie shot me a look, telling me with her eyes that she was going to check up on her. There was a flash of light and a hawk flew out the out of the cave.

Being alone made me feel worse, It allowed my thoughts to wander. I couldn't block my emotions any longer. The tears fell out silently. The cave was silent except for an occasional deep breath or sniffle. I felt like a sappy movie- but I couldn't help it. After I started, the tears wouldn't stop. I hadn't cried that hard since I had thought stupid Kelp Head was dead.

I heard the curtains open again. Rachel walked in, holding her right hand while Morgan walked next to her. Josie flew above them, still in hawk form. Morgan was in a purple tunic with black and white polka dot leggings. Which had a strange contrast with Rachel's usual ratty Harvard Art Department T-shirt and doodled on shorts.

"And this is why we don't try to give invulnerable people black-eyes." Morgan said, "Okay Rachel, I can fix it. Sit down."

She squeezed the purple stone around her neck- the same one she had been wearing last night. A staff appeared in her hand.

"It's a good thing I read ahead about healing, broken bones are a snap to fix. Forgive the pun." She pointed the purple stone embedded in the staff at Rachel's hand. There was a flash of light and the look of pain on Rachel's face subsided.

"Ah, that's better. Annabeth, there's something wrong with Percy." I had a feeling that Rachel wasn't talking about him turning into a cheating jerk. All of the previous anger faded from her eyes. "I have a hunch of what it is, but don't get your hopes up."

_**End of chapter 4! Wow- that was a really long chapter. You know what this story needs- some action. I'm going to try to put some in the next chapter. Which is hopefully coming soon- I'll try to update. Please review! Compliments, criticisms, or comments- I just love to hear from people!**_


	5. It is Determined

_**I decided that I am not going to write an author's note for this chapter- wait I'm writing one right now. – I know- lame, isn't it- but you won't believe how much that actually happens to me. Okay how 'bout I stop babbling and you just read. Sound good? Okay and….. Go**_

Chapter 5- It is Determined

It was capture the flag that night- Athena vs. Apollo. Dinner was tense, it would be the 1st capture the flag since last summer that would have enough campers playing to actually be fun. Allied with my cabin was Hades, Hecate, Nike, Hephaestus, Iris, Ares, Hermes, and Poseidon- hey, I had thought that it would be a good idea at the time.

Rachel was sitting next to me (the oracle doesn't have to sit at any particular table.) She was still trying to comfort me- though it definitely wasn't working. I kept pondering over her theory of what had happened to Percy. Could he really be under a spell? I pushed it out of my mind- Rachel had said that she wasn't absolutely sure, and I didn't want to get my hopes up. I had waaaaaaaaaaay to much experience in that category of boy trouble.

We were about to start. All the people on my team had their helmets decked out with blue horse-hair plumes (Apollo would be red.) I went over the strategy one more time. Group one would sneak around the right flank and attack from the back. Group two would attack at the front (_**Hendie: I don't know the "battle term" for front)**_ as a distraction. When the other team was nice and distracted, group 3. AKA me and Percy (once again, I had thought that it would be a good idea at the time) would sneak around the left flank, grab the flag, and run back to friendly territory, Attacking anyone who got in our way.

"Has anyone seen Percy?" I asked, not that I wanted to see that jerk, but we needed him for the game. No one had. I glanced around; that stupid kelp head wasn't there.

"Okay" I announced, "change of plans. Since Jackson decided not to show up, Group three will now be me and Clarisse." Everyone nodded.

The conch shell blew, Chiron did the whole, no maiming, creek is the boundary line, yada, yada. Then he finished "Blue, move out!" I ordered, I had forgotten how much I liked being in charge.

We moved into our side of the forest. I saw Josie prowling behind She wasn't wearing any armor, so I couldn't tell whose team she was on.

"Which team are you on?" I asked her.

"Yours" she told me.

"What cabin are you in?"

"Hermes." She stated quite plainly.

I was confused.

"Undetermined." She said. That made sense.

"How old are you?" I asked further.

"I turn 13 tomorrow. I have to be claimed tonight." And so she did, or the pact would be broken. Bad things happen when pacts are broken.

"Well, gotta go. Defense." Josie then turned into a leopard and leapt into the trees.

I found Clarisse waiting for me. She was wearing Blood-red battle armor, and had her 3rd electric spear, (this one called piercer) on her back.

"Kay, princess." She said, "We can get the flag back for Ares. And, you walk away from this with only minor injuries."

I rolled my eyes and started ahead. Clarisse followed noiselessly behind me.

We walked along for a few minutes. My plan was working perfectly. No heavily armed Reds jumped out at us, at least. Everything was quiet; except for the clash of weapons ringing through the forest from the distance.

There was a rustling next to me. A flash of purple darted by. A bout of happy laughter followed. At least Morgan was enjoying herself.

Finally, we reached the clearing where Apollo had hidden the flag. It was hanging in a tree where one, young archer was guarding.

Too easy. I was just about to grab the flag when something strange happened.

I heard a scream from the distance. I coughed, and white mist came out of my mouth, and kept coming. It came out of my nose and my ears. It gushed out to form one flowing cloud and started blowing away.

I stopped, my hand suspended, still reaching for the flag. The young guard was still staring after the mist. Clarisse growled, grabbed the flag, and ran off. That snapped me back to attention.

The Apollo camper woke up too. He fumbled with his bow, but I grabbed it, snapped it in half, and threw it behind me. All while running like a mad man towards the freaky scream.

Another scream split through the air. I was getting closer now, I could hear it better. It sounded like a lot of cries mixed together; howling wolves, screeching monkeys, calling elephants, roaring tigers, and a lot of other animal noises.

I followed Clarisse, who seemed to be going in the general direction of the white cloud, judging by the remains of mist moving along.

There were more screams, but most were covered by Clarisse's battle cry. The closer she got to victory, the more restless she became.

In one final leap, we were out of the trees, and only a few meters away from the boundary line, the creek.

Clarisse stopped dead in front of me. I gave her a little push and she stumbled across the creek.

Without Clarisse blocking my way, I could see what made her stop. The cause of the screaming, Josie Anderson.

It looked like she was having a seizure or something. She was on the ground, lying in an awkward position. She was wriggling and clawing at the ground. She kept transforming.

The mist was collecting over her head. It was coming from all different directions. I ran over to her and tried to hold her still. People were gathering around us, gasping at her.

She had one last transformation. I was left holding a tiny, lion cub that was fast asleep. People were gasping and pointing over us. I looked up just in time to see the last of the mist disappearing over Josie's head.

Chiron clopped over and took Josie out of my arms and lifted her over his head.

Wow, Lion King déjà vu.

"It is determined. Her father is Pan, Lord of the Wild Places. Hail, Josephine Anderson, daughter of Pan.

_**Hooray! I updated! I know- it's been a while. I've been working on some other stories. Be sure to check out **__**Michael Who?**__** And **__**Percy Jackson Songs. **_

_**Hendie out.**_


	6. I get it, OK!

_**I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack!**_

Rachel's couch was really comfortable- I had designed them that way- but I could have been lying on a bed of nails for all I cared. I felt like Minotaur dung.

The cave was dimly lit. I was lying down with a knit blanket pulled up to my chin and a couch pillow under my head.

Rachel was at some Oracle meeting thing and had said that I could crash at her place. I just couldn't face the other campers. It was 2 days after…. after capture the flag. Percy was still missing. There was a rumor going around camp that I had somehow caused it. Danny was also missing. I think that the Aphrodite girls had started the rumor- but who knows?

Wanting to stop pondering over this- I tried to fall asleep.

"Bah! Is there anyone up there?" a familiar voice asked.

"Grover, I'm up here!" goat boy had been away for 3 months- helping Satyr efforts in the Amazon rain forest.

When I saw him- he gave me quite a shock. His hair was a mess. His orange Camp Half Blood shirt was ripped and dirty. He was bruised and cut- but it didn't appear to be anything to be worried about.

"I've been looking all over for you," he said. "No one could tell me anything- What happened?"

"What happened to you?" I implied- sitting up.

"Oh, this? Let's just say that there are a lot of unfriendly beasties in the rainforest. But what happened here?"

Rachel walked into the room from her top secret oracle room in the back. "Grover, I'm sorry to have to tell you this- but your best friend is an insufferable jerk face." She said. She stood there with her arms crossed- probably just to add emphasis.

I sniffed.

"Well, I know that something happened. I'm just not sure what. That's why I'm here- What the fields of punishment happened!" Grover pushed further- it was almost as if he was trying to make me feel worse.

I sniffed again and tried to explain, "Well, um, it was *sniff* was 2 days ago *sniff* and um, uh, I….." I burst into tears. I fell back onto the couch and pulled the blanket back up under my chin.

Rachel glared at Grover. She grabbed him on the ear and pulled him into the other room while he was going, "Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, OW! Cut it out!".

She talked quickly and quietly so that I couldn't hear what she was saying. But apparently Grover hadn't gotten the hint- I could hear every word he said loud and clear.

"Say what!" "How could?" "She did?" "What the?" and finally, "Oh, I get it now."

I rolled over, closed my eyes, and pretended to be asleep. I wanted to avoid Grover's "comforting" words for as long as possible.

"Annabeth?" he asked, coming back into the room."Um, I need to tell you something. I think I know why Percy has been acting so strangely. He is under a spell."

I turned over and pulled the pillow over my head. I had heard this theory before.

"Look," he continued, "I can feel the magic. The spell is messing with his mind. I can feel it with the empathy link. The longer Percy and I are apart, the stronger the link is. A few nights ago, I could sense that something was making him really, really happy; but then, the next day, he went into a kind of a trance, he's like a little robot. This is some serious magic. It's making my nose twitch. Someone did this to him. He can't help it. It's not his fault."

He didn't mention anything about what Percy had actually done. Possibly because he didn't want to hurt me, probably because he didn't understand it."

I kept my eyes closed. Grover put his hand on my shoulder.

"That is not the only reason I came here though." Said Grover, "I have heard that a certain daughter of Pan has been claimed. I must go and speak with her."

I heard him leave the cave. I wondered if what he said was really true.

Later that afternoon, Chiron came to see me. I heard his hooves clopping up the stone stairs. He rang the bell and I, because Rachel was still doing freaky Oracle stuff, had to get off my lazy butt and go let him in.

"Ah, Annabeth; I need to speak with you dearly."

He came into the cave and stood on the rug while I sat back down on the couch.

"Child, I know things are difficult for you back at camp, but you need to come back and talk."

"Talk? They think that I made Percy and Danny disappear. It's almost as if they all just randomly turned against me." I said.

"Actually, I have heard that they are saying that you took a leaf out of your mother's book and somehow turned Danny into a Gorgon."

"Ugh! I can't go back down there!"

"You need to come back and talk." Chiron insisted.

"Why? I know what you are going to say. It wasn't Percy's fault, he was under a spell, and he can't help it. Well I've already accepted that! I really wish that I hadn't, because now all I can think about is how I can do absolutely nothing about it! He's gone and no one knows where he is. It's just so frustrating!" I was on my feet now, tears were streaming down my face, and my breathing was ragged.

"I'm sorry Chiron, it's just been… really hard on me. I just, I, I, I, I don't know!" I fell back on the couch and buried my face in my hands.

Chiron put his hands on my shoulders, "Do not despair child. All will eventually fall into place. We have a plan."

"We? Who is we?" I asked.

"Like I said, you need to come with me."

_**And chapter 6 is finished. Sorry I kind of dropped off of the planet for a little while. I discovered Facebook.**_


	7. A TV show?

_**In case you are wondering, (which you probably aren't) I am at the beach right now- just chillin'- Don't you just love Spring Break? If you don't then you're about to- VIOLA! (I don't even know what that word means) Chapter 7! (or is it 8, no, no it's 7…….. well)**_

I have lived at Camp Half Blood for the better part of 9 years now; and I have still never quite figured out why we have all of our important meetings in the big house rec-room.

As I absentmindedly sipped my tea (sweet, of course, I am from Virginia after all), there was an argument going on.

"We" had actually turned out to be almost exactly the people I would expect to come up with a bizarre plan in a situation like this- Rachel, Grover, Morgan, Josie, and surprisingly, Clarisse (or at least she had "supervised")

Despite their seemingly great teamwork, Josie was now looking like she was about to rip Grover's head off.

"Wait, so why can't Josie go?" asked Morgan, eager to know why her best friend looked so peeved. Josie promptly turned into a falcon and perched in the rafters, still glaring at Grover.

"She is just far too valuable." Grover said, still eying the falcon in the rafters. "When the god Pan died, the spirit of the wild was passed over to humans to maintain- the thing is though, that transaction can't just happen, there has to be a more gradual transition. There has to be someone in-between wild god and mortal human to maintain it for at least an average human life time if the wild is to survive. Josie is that transition. If something happened to her- there is no one that I know of who could be suitable to maintain the spirit."

I was getting impatient, "Sorry, this is all really interesting, but what about Percy?!"

Rachel gave me a very solemn look. "There is something that I think you should see."

She picked a TV remote off of the ping pong table. She hit a button and the bulky, black dinosaur of a TV flickered on. The HAPHESTUS TV emblem was featured in the bottom right corner of a Pomona Grocery Store ad.

The ad finished. Some slower, romantic music played and the screen went black. White words appeared on the screen.

_From Aphrodite Studios_

_The best love story since Helen and Paris_

_That follows our 2 favorite Demigods on the rides of their lives_

_Based on a true story_

_**ALL MY DEMIGODS**_

_6/14/10_

What? Oh no.

"Annabeth, take a look at this." Rachel said as she balanced her Mac on one knee.

The computer screen showed the show's website. The ad that I just saw was playing in a window at the bottom of the screen. Rachel clicked on the tab labeled pictures.

Guess who the first picture was of. If you guessed me than you are correct. The bulk of the pictures were dating back to my birthday. There were a few from before that. Let's just say that I blushed at most of them.

My embarrassment was soon replaced by anger. "She is doing all of this for a TV show?!"

"This is the plan. You, Morgan, Clarisse, and Rachel will try to get to Aphrodite's palace, and get Percy back. Try not to get into a lot of drama along the way. That's what she wants." Said Grover.

Josie glared some more.

"Where is Aphrodite's palace?" I asked.

"Like New York", Rachel said," this city is a popular place for mythical things. Her palace is in Hollywood, quite literally actually."

I didn't bother to ask what the fields of punishment she was talking about, but then decided against it. I just looked up at Chiron and asked, "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning; you had better start packing."

_**Yes, this chapter really sucked. The last 2 chapters were really boring, bur necessary. Things are about to get a bit more interesting. **_


	8. Harry Potter made this look so easy

_**O.K. so most of the boring stuff is over for now. Just to get confusion out of the way, Morgan is the daughter of Hecate, I meant to specify on that earlier, it will save you a lot of confusion in later chapters. READ!**_

A worried Rachel, a pumped Morgan, a scowling Josie, and a missing Clarisse were not high on my list for the perfect way to start a quest.

The morning was dewy and the sky would have been overcast if it had not been for Mr. D's ability to control the weather. My green back pack was slung over my shoulder and my lucky converses were coming untied.

Rachel was worried because she had not come up with a dang prophecy yet. Morgan was pumped because daughters of Hecate have turned out to be almost always exceedingly excited whenever anything eventful is going to happen. Josie was scowling because (well, duh) she would not be able to come with us (or maybe it was because she had ripped her favorite Hairy Otter T-shirt this morning.)

Why Clarisse was missing was another mystery, everyone had a different theory; but as she came hurrying up the hill blushing profusely, I had a very strong feeling that she had been saying goodbye to Chris.

Argus beeped the horn to the Camp Van.

"Rachel?" I asked, "Any last-minute prophecies?"

She looked awfully despaired as she shook her head slowly. She blinked hard, straightened her Clarion Ladies Academy hoodie, and walked across the border. The rest of us followed as Josie stood by Peleus the Dragon, and looked on enviously.

….

I was awoken by Morgan shaking my shoulder.

"Annabeth, wake up, we're here." she said.

Argus was parked a few yards away from the front entrance of the Airport. We had tickets to Dallas and then to LAX. Without any major enemies of Zeus with us, we could at least get there the easy way.

After passing through vigorous security and waiting for 30 minutes, we were in our seats and ready to head to Texas, but there was some sort of holdup on the runway.

I shifted uncomfortably. There were 3 seats in every row on opposing sides of the plane. My companions all sat on the row in front of me, while I was squashed to the window because there was a very large woman sitting beside me; she was so large that she took up both of the remaining seats in the row.

The lady was wearing a hideous black snakeskin dress that was way to close cut on her. She also wore a ridiculous black feather boa and she was wearing a large hat that she had pulled over her face in a fashion that suggested that she was sleeping.

A young flight attendant stopped by to ask us if we would like any drinks while we waited. I told her that an ice water was fine. I gently nudged the woman beside me to wake her up in case she wanted anything.

Instead of lifting her hat, the woman just beckoned with her hand for the attendant to move on with her hand and turned to me.

"Hello child," she said in a thin, raspy voice, "going to Dallas too I see. What is your occasion? Seeing your boy friend perhaps?"

At that point I knew I should have been suspicious, but what really threw me off was Rachel sniffing and saying, "What is that smell?"

At that the woman knew I was onto her. She started to change; her voice became more snakelike as her body started covering with scales.

"After I'm done with you, the next place you'll see your dear Perseus is in the underworld. Ha!" she cackled with delight.

Her body elongated. She had a row of black feathers flowing down her back. Her arms and legs molded into her torso and her tail grew to be at least 30 feet long. Her large hat was still covering her face, but her fangs were so long I could see them dripping poison.

None of the passengers had noticed anything yet. Sometimes I really despise the mist, I mean it's nice to have help when battling an evil demented snake/chicken lady.

"A Basilisk!" Clarisse shouted, her eyes wide.

Once I heard the name, my brain spit out information. "Don't look her in the eyes, her gaze will kill you!"

The basilisk had still not revealed her deadly eyes, but the poison dripping off of her fangs was burning holes in the carpet.

The basilisk centered herself, posing to strike. She thrust out her triangular head. I ducked down into the seat, she missed me and bit out a chunk of the window.

The second she drew back, I sprung up, somersaulted over her head, pulled out my bronze knife, and tried to cut a gash on her back. But my blade bounced off harmlessly. Then I remembered something,

"There are only 2 ways to kill it, we need a mirror or a rooster."

The basilisk was uncoiling out of the seat. She looked kind of odd with that giant hat.

I flung open the overhead, grabbed our bags, and threw them out of the door. Rachel, Morgan, and Clarisse followed me as I jumped out of the plane, onto the runway.

The giant snake lady followed us passengers were screaming. It wasn't every day you saw 4 teenage girls and an obese lady jump out of a plane 10 feet down to hard asphalt. They probably thought we were terrorists. Hey- it wouldn't be the first time.

We circled around the basilisk in a fighting stance. Morgan was rummaging around in her makeup bag for a compact mirror.

The snake lunged at Clarisse with her ugly head and swatted at Rachel with her tail. Clarisse zapped it with her spear, but the basilisk got a good shot at Rachel. She sailed back a few feet and hit the ground with a thud.

It was at that moment when Morgan held up something small, circular, and of course, purple.

"I got it!" she yelled victoriously.

The basilisk hissed. She whirled her tail around like a lasso. She threw her tail at Morgan. The mirror flew a few feet before landing with a tinkling of shattering glass.

Well, there goes that plan.

Morgan, entangled in the beast's scaly tail, was suspended 20 feet off the ground. The basilisk turned her head in her prey's direction before tipping her head upside down.

The hat fell off.

Morgan closed her eyes immediately. I willed her to keep them closed. It was like Medusa, but worse.

The basilisk opened her mouth wide and brought Morgan closer. I realized that it was no good. Even if Morgan could keep her eyes closed, the teeth were still poisonous.

And suddenly, "COK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"

Te rooster call came out of nowhere, but it was effective none the less.

The basilisk's eyes went dark. It stretched out and coiled up in spasms. It swayed a few times before it fell to the ground, just a heap of black snake skin and feathers.

"All right," Clarisse said, "this is going right up next to the Drakon."

Rachel hopped over on one foot while trying to rub the other one. "Ow ow ow."

Her ankle was bleeding, nothing too bad, but we had to get it clean, fast.

"Well, that was interesting." I said, slinging Rachel's arm over my shoulders to help her walk.

"Hey!" Screamed a very annoyed voice, "A little help would be nice!"

The scream came from the pile of limp snakeskin. Uh oh.

Clarisse tugged on the skin until a much squashed daughter of Hecate came into view. She jumped away. She poked the dead basilisk with her staff.

She tugged on her ripped Cardigan and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Never again" she said.

"Okay, that's solved, now how are we supposed to get out of here?" Clarisse asked/demanded.

I looked around the runway and at the airport. Something on the helipad caught my eye.

"Rachel, didn't you say that your dad was coming home from Japan today?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Let's see if I remember how to fly a helicopter." I said with a smile that would have scared the Stoll brothers.


	9. I Don't Even Get To Drive the Helicopter

_**You know, I printed this story out and guess how long it was. 44 pages! If you have read **__**ALL **__**of the story (and if you haven't, GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING!) you have read a number of pages equivalent to the number of pages that make up the first 2 chapters of **__**The Last Olympian**__**. Wow I never thought that I would be capable of writing that much. So let's write some more! (I pause a moment to do some horrible dancing) If you are wondering about that- I'm listening to inspirational music while I write (BOOM BOOM POW!)**_

_**I just finished The Red Pyramid! I already published chapter 1 of Mythological Mayhem- a P.J. – Kane Chronicles crossover. Check it out! **_

The scene before me was….interesting to say the least. I was in the underworld. I had been down there enough times to know that-Okay, so I had only been down there once- but that is still enough times. I was standing in front of a river. It was not the river Styx- it was too clean and normal looking.

It must have been the river Lithe- that was the only other river in the underworld. There were 4 figures on the bank. Two of them were skeletons. Another was Nico, and the last was a shade. The shade was shrouded in darkness- so I could not tell who it was. Nico was talking to it intently. He looked worried.

The shade shook its head once and jumped into the river. Nico's eyes grew wide. The river bubbled for a few minutes. Then the skeletons reached down to pull the shade out.

The thing in their skeletal arms was no longer a full grown shade. It was a baby. It had a tuft of brown hair and aquamarine eyes.

I felt a shock of recollection. Apparently so did Nico, because he shook his head a couple of times. The skeletons took no heed and threw the baby up on the air. The baby laughed and then dissipated.

I heard Nico say "Oh Styx."

Clarisse gingerly poked me on the shoulder. I didn't move- I had absolutely no desire to get up. Clarisse sighed and… slapped me on the face. Now that woke me up. I sat up quickly and drew my knife. Things would have gotten really ugly, but then I realized why Clarisse had woke me up.

Rachel was sitting in the corner with her green eyes glowing. She was swaying back and forth and smoke was pouring out of her mouth. The musty smell of snakes filled the helicopter.

Images circled around in my head until I saw 6 teenage boys gathered around a picnic table. I knew all of them except for one- a guy who looked to be about 15 years old. He was tall, with a pale complexion. He wore his light brown hair shaggy, so that his bangs slightly covered his bright, tawny eyes. He stood at the end of the table and played the saxophone. He was good, I mean really good, like child prodigy good.

He stopped playing and the guys all looked at me. The one sitting closest to me- who happened to be Bekendorf- started speaking in Rachel's chanting oracle voice.

_You will go west to face the goddess of love_

Nico looked up from his ham sandwich and said

_But your troubles come from down below, not from up above_

Grover took a bite out of a tin can and said

_You will recover a friend left behind_

The guy I didn't know took the sax out of his mouth and said

_A new demigod is who you will find_

My heart almost stopped when Percy looked up at me and smiled and then said

_To your true love is where you will go_

Then Luke looked up at me, his eyes grave, and said

_Only to meet 2 unexpected foes_

The image swirled around in a green fog before it blinked out. I was in the helicopter again. Rachel crumpled to the ground.

She laid there for a few seconds before she sat back up and hoisted herself back up into her seat. Just in time because a split second later, the pilot looked back into the cabin.

"Everything alright Ms. Dare?" he asked, concerned.

Rachel responded, "Yeah, Jake, we're all fine." The pilot returned his gaze to the sky and Rachel sighed and fell asleep.

Clarisse grunted and turned over and after a few minutes, she was snoring as well.

Today had been a pretty suckish day. The only highlight was that I could add another thing to my "I did something better than Harry Potter" list. Well, it is a pretty short list. But beating up a basilisk was a pretty sucky way to start a quest. And then I didn't even get to fly the helicopter! Life was not fair.

I looked across the cabin at Morgan. She looked like she was doing some deep thinking. Her hand was raised up to her eye level. A purple fire danced in her palm. She scowled at it, as if she was concentrating really hard.

"That looks really cool." I said, "Is it hard to do?"

"Hm?" she asked, looking up, " No, it's not hard at all, this is a meditation flame. Gazing into it clears the mind. I do my best thinkin' staring at this thing."

"Were you thinking about the prophecy?" I asked her.

"Yeah" she said, "It was weird, do all prophecies come with freaky visions?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Well what was really weird was that there was a bunch of people I didn't know, or just know barely; and they were sitting there right next to my brother."

"The guy with the saxophone was your brother?" I asked.

"Yeah, half-brother, my dad's son, well it was a vision of him anyway. It's just weird, he stinks at the Saxophone, I had thought that he would be playing his guitar. "

I gaped at her, "Stinks? That was the best playing I have ever heard!"

"Well, I'm not saying that he isn't good, but compared to his skills for all the other instruments, his Sax sucks."

I leaned back in the luxury leather seat and wondered what Morgan's brother had to do with our quest.

"So, you know that kid who said the second line of the prophecy?" Morgan asked me.

"You mean Nico? Black clothes, long hair, skull jewelry?"

"Yeah, that's him. Isn't he a friend of yours?"

"Yeah" I said slowly and suspiciously, while raising my eyebrows.

"Well, um, I was wondering if, like, when we got back to camp, you could maybe, um, introduce me? He really is cute."

I smiled at her. "Sure, I think he'd like that."

Morgan smiled back.

Jake the pilot stuck his head back in the cabin. "Ladies, we'll land in Boston in 10 minutes."

I told Jake thanks and leaned back into the seat. I watched a fly buzz around the window. I made a mental note to let it out when the chopper landed.

We didn't really have much of a plan after we got to Boston, but demigods are great at improvising. I looked out of the window and watched the scenery unfold beneath me and quietly hummed an Owl City song.

_**There's chapter 9. Yeah that last sentence was kind of random- but I'm listening to Saltwater Room now- ooo- song change. Kelly Clarkson- My Life Would Suck Without You- MORE HORRIBLE DANCING TIME! :)**_

_**Later! **_


	10. We Crash a Tea Party

**Chapter 10- We Crash a Tea Party**

It was as if the weather had gotten 100% more gloomy in the last 10 minutes, before it had been OK (ish), but now it was downright depressing- almost a little scary. The sky was dark gray, almost black, and I could swear I could see traces of green in the swirling clouds. Well, that's global warming for you.

Jake landed the chopper and called a car to get us into town. Rachel said that she could easily find another form of transportation. I personally would have stuck with the helicopter.

"I have a bad feeling about traveling too far in the helicopter." She said, "Trust me- Oracle's intuition."

So there we were- 4 teenage girls riding around in some taxi that smelt strongly of goats. I really wanted to visit all of the museums. But of course, I got turned down.

"Come on guys!" I pleaded, "This is where the Boston tea party happened, and the Boston massacre, tons of stuff. Pretty please!" I tried my best puppy dog pout.

"I know as well as you do that only like 3 people died in the Boston Massacre, so it's not really a massacre, now is it?" Clarisse raised her eyebrows at me, "So why the Styx would I be the slightest bit interested?"

"Yeah Annabeth, do you want to save your boyfriend or not?" Morgan asked, exasperated.

Pout. I hated it when other people were right.

The cab stopped and Rachel paid the driver. We hopped out. We were standing in front of a tall, black building. Rows and rows of monotone square windows led up to a green and white logo on the top of the building. The Dare Enterprises building looked even more imposing here than the one in New York.

"Okay guys, Morgan and Clarisse, you stay out here and keep guard. Annabeth and I will see if we can weasel a car out of this joint." Rachel said, and the other girls nodded.

The Dare Enterprises lobby was impressive. It was a huge room. The floor was tiled in solid white marble. Numerous large T.V. screens on the wall were showing the weather, stock market stuff, CNN, and a bunch of other stuff business people would enjoy watching. The walls were all stark white. Elevator doors dinged as they opened and closed. Fancy Shmancy looking people with suits and briefcases stepped out hurriedly, their eyes glued to Rolexes on their wrists.

At the end of the lobby, there was an elevated dark wood desk. Four clerks stood behind it. One was typing furiously on a computer keyboard. Another was on the phone saying, "Dare Enterprises, please hold. Dare Enterprises, please hold. Dare Enterprises, hold please." One was in a heated argument with a guy in a turban, and the last one was… eating a donut.

We walked up to the donut dude. He looked thirty something. He wore really dorky looking glasses and he had a very bushy mustache. Some of the Jelly squeezed out of his doughnut and on to his shirt. He used his hideous tie to try to wipe it off. I didn't see a wedding ring- big surprise. Doesn't he just sound so sexy?

"I would like to see the manager." Rachel said with confidence like she owned the place, which of course she did.

The guy wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "And who might you be, little lady?" he asked, chuckling for some reason.

Rachel scoffed and rolled her eyes. I decided to have some fun. "You mean you DON'T KNOW who this IS!" I gasped and raised my eyebrows in mock surprise.

Donut dude looked confused, "Should I?"

"This is RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE! RACHEL DARE!" I pretended to gape at donut dude. I could hear Rachel snickering behind my back.

Donut Dude still looked confused.

Rachel's voice sounded two octaves higher than usual, "You know, the heiress to this entire cooperation. My daddy owns this place, and signs your check. Now the manager, please?"

Donut Dude's eyes got really big, really fast, "Yes, miss Dare!" He grabbed the phone off the cradle and punched in the number. "Sir? This is Dennis, the desk clerk. There is a Ms. Dare to see you. Yes, the owner's daughter. Right away, Sir."

"Go right ahead miss, Mr. Rone's office is on the top floor." Donut Dude looked kind of scared.

"Thank you, Dennis, for wasting my precious time! Gosh, If daddy knew the state of incompetence …" Rachel strutted off with her nose in the air and did a pretty good spoiled brat impression until we were in the elevator.

The doors closed and we keeled over laughing.

Dare Enterprises, Boston division, has 47 floors, and a terrible taste in elevator music. Why is it that you couldn't play normal music n an elevator, like One Republic or Lady Gaga? Why did it always have to be this classical junk?

"So, do you have a plan?" I asked Rachel.

She shook her head, "Don't you?"

I smiled. "Athena always has a plan."

Mr. Rone's office sure was ritzy. Everything seemed to be made of animal hides, leather furniture, furs hanging on the wall. In ornate frames were pictures of tropical wild places that the company had sawed down and built resorts on. I finally saw how big the company was. They had taken over entire islands. Rachel looked at the pictures sadly.

Mr. Rone sat behind his expensive-looking desk. Rachel walked right up to him and sat down in the large armchair on the opposite side of his desk. I sat down next to her.

"Hello, Robert." She addressed him with his first name, "I don't believe I've seen you since daddy's company Christmas party. This is my assistant, Anna Lace."

Mr. Rone reached out to shake Rachel's hand, but she waved him away. "I have come with a mission, Robert. I need a car with no questions, got it?"

Robert was about to sat that no, he did not get it, but Rachel cut him off. "Daddy has been having some troubles with the transportation department. He found that he was losing a lot of money because of driving issues. He was sending someone out to every division to see if the problem was incompetent cars, or employees; because the problem will simply have to be eliminated. So I need a car, something big, like a Suburban or an Excursion. And I need it fast, Robert, or I shall have to tell my daddy of the incompetent manager." She smiled sweetly, and Robert gulped.

"Of course, Ms. Dare. You may choose anything you like out of the car pool in the parking garage behind the building. Keys and $100 cash are in the glove compartment. Would you like me to call your father?"

"No! I mean, no thank you, Bob. I just called daddy before I walked into this horrid establishment, he has far better things to waste his time on than blathering on with an idiot like you. You will receive the results of your examination soon enough. Come, Anna."

Rachel whirled out of there like a tornado, taking me along and leaving Mr. Rone looking very pale.

"You're a brat." I told her as we were skipping out of the revolving doors.

She smiled, "Thank you."

When we walked outside, Morgan had made a new friend. She was scratching an alley cat behind the ears and it was purring somethin' fierce. Clarisse leaned against the wall, her eyes half closed.

"Come on, ya'll. We got a car, let's go."

"Can we bring him?" Morgan asked, pointing to the cat rubbing on her legs.

"No, we cannot bring the cat. It'll be fine on its own."

"Alright." Morgan frowned.

A few minutes later, we were sitting in a new Suburban. I drove and Rachel got shotgun. Morgan sat in the middle row while Clarisse sprawled out in the very back.

We drove through city traffic for a minute. Then we saw the Harbor. The ocean was pretty shades of blue and gray. I saw the place where you could be like our founding fathers and dump some tea into the harbor. I drove into the parking lot.

"Annabeth," Morgan complained, "I thought you agreed, no detours."

"Come on guys, let me look around, we can dump some tea into the water, and we'll be out of here before you know it."

The storm was starting to look scarier, though. I could see lightning forking in the distance. We got our boxes of tea and made a big production of throwing the bags into the water while yelling patriotic stuff.

"Give me liberty, or give me death!"

"No taxation without representation!"

"Take that, King George!"

"Red Coats suck!"

The tea leaves fell into the choppy waves. The water was going crazy from the oncoming storm. The tea swirled around in a wide circle. They kept spinning and spinning. Lightning flashed nearby, lighting up the whole scene. The leaves were forming a whirlpool. They kept spinning and the water opened up.

A bayonet stuck out of the whirlpool. Muskets are not very nice weapons. They were used a lot in revolutionary times. It was a huge gun that shot some nasty little musket balls of death, and just in case the shots didn't kill you. They strapped this pointy knife, a bayonet, to the end, because every weapon should have at least two ways to kill people.

Of course, following the musket was the rest of the undead British red coat; and of course, he had to bring his friends.

"How dare you mock us, yanks. Day after day, you throw precious tea into the harbor, reminding us of that day of failure. Well, we're done!" the red coats said in unison, "We will destroy this city and burn it to the ground. Of course, killing you seems like a good a way as any to start."

They aimed their muskets.

"You got a plan, wise girl?" Clarisse asked.

"Morgan, do that flamey thingy!"

"Got it!" Morgan squeezed her necklace, and the staff appeared in her hands. Her eyes and the magic stone radiated purple light. She swung her staff in front of her and purple flames leapt up across the water. The flames completely consumed the warriors. But, because they're undead and all, they're kind of hard to kill. The fire didn't seem to do anything at all. After a while, Morgan let it drop. The red coats may have been charred, but they were still armed and dangerous.

I was lost. We had absolutely no long range weapons at all. If we got out from behind that wall, we got shot.

Morgan slammed down her staff again. This time, the muskets exploded in their owner's faces. Only one monster disintegrated. They just drew their swords and ran up on shore. Fun time!

Against guns, not so good; against swords, I'm an expert. A few hacks, slashes, and slices later, I was left standing in a puddle of shadow. Clarisse destroyed 5 of them in a single sword swipe. Rachel managed to stab one in the back.

"Okay, maybe stopping for educational detours are bad ideas." I admitted.

"You think!" Everyone yelled in unision.


End file.
